Webots agent for Renforcement Learning

Prerequisites

1. Install spikeagents library from the spiking_neural_agents GitHub repo:

   pip install git+https://github.com/ziemowit-s/spiking_neural_agents.git

2. Download stable Webots release: https://github.com/cyberbotics/webots/releases

3. Install Webots

4. Add to .bashrc:

   export WEBOTS_HOME="/usr/local/webots"
   export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$WEBOTS_HOME/lib/controller"
   export PYTHONPATH="$WEBOTS_HOME/lib/controller/python36:$PYTHONPATH"

How to work with Webots

You can deploy Python code for a robot controller directly from the IDE. Each robot has its own controller file which is deployed by run button from IDE or from the console (by python controller_name.py).

You can load robot's controller directly to Webots, but probably your conda env and external libs won't work.

Running Webots

1. Type webots from the console

2. To start project in Webots:

   • click Wizard
   • New Project Directory [Next]
   • choose location [Next]
   • name of your world file (with *.wbt extention)
   • click "Add a rectangle area" [Next]
   • Finish

3. To add new object (box, robots):

   • click + sign
   • click PROTO nodes (Webots Projects)
   • to add robot click "robots" and choose one for you
   • gctronic->epuck-EPuck (Robot) is a robot with camera view

To deploy code from PyCharm

1. in Webots window select your robot on the node list
   • double click on the robot list element
   • click "controller"
   • click Select
   • choose <extern>
2. In PyCharm
   • run ide from console write pycharm-profesional or pycharm-community in the console. This will use all environmental variable from your .bashrc
   • select run.py file and click run button
   • open Webots window and click run
3. This procedure run the code to the first robot which has <extern> controller
4. If you have more robots with <extern> controller - go to Webots docs and find how to run them

Run

1. Run Webots and open simulation/worlds/world.wbt

2. run SLAVE robot controller by:

   python slave_controller.py

3. when you see in console "network init done" -> click play button in the Webots application

If you want to re-run slave_controller.py you need to:

• restart Webots
• follow the Run Instruction from the 2nd point